Orlando lose their Magic

Knicks beat Magic 99-96

Knicks beat Magic 99-96

Allan Houston scored 30 points, including a decisive jumper with 21.7 seconds remaining, and Latrell Sprewell added 30 as the New York Knicks defeated the Orlando Magic 99-96 on Saturday in New York.

Down one with a minute to go, Chris Childs hit a 3-pointer to give New York a 93-92 lead. But Orlando's Pat Garrity quickly answered with a 15-footer to put the Magic back ahead.

Aside from the heroics of Houston and Sprewell, New York got a big performance out of Childs, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, including three 3-pointers.

Chris Gatling paced Orlando with 17 points and Darrell Armstrong had 16 and eight assists for a Magic team that put six players in double figures and played all 12 men it dressed.

Hawks 94, Celtics 84

In Atlanta, Isaiah Rider scored 30 points and Dikembe Mutombo added 17 points and 17 rebounds as Atlanta rallied to beat Boston.

One day after wasting a 21-point advantage and losing 114-112 to Milwaukee, the Celtics twice held 14-point leads, but allowed Atlanta to close the gap to 73-72 with a 13-0 run.

Atlanta took its first lead at 77-75 on a jump shot by Rider, who scored 22 in the second half.

Kenny Anderson had 17 points to lead the Celtics.

Mavericks 95, Bulls 83

In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored seven of his 17 points during a 17-4 spurt at the start of the third quarter as Dallas ended a five-game losing streak with a victory over hapless Chicago.

Michael Finley paced the Mavericks with 24 points, and Shawn Bradley had 17. Hubert Davis added 12 points and Cedric Ceballos 10 for Dallas.

Rookie Elton Brand's 18 points led the Bulls, who lost their seventh in a row.

Timberwolves 113, Grizzlies 82

In Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett, playing on a sore left foot, scored 20 points as Minnesota beat Vancouver to snap a three-game losing streak.

Anthony Peeler added 17 points, Joe Smith had 16 and Wally Szczerbiak 14 as all 12 Timberwolves scored at least two points.

Othella Harrington scored 18 points for Vancouver, which lost its seventh straight and 29th consecutive on the road. Shareef Abdur-Rahim had just six points, ending his 97-game streak of double-figure scoring.

Heat 89, Wizards 86

In Miami, Alonzo Mourning scored 30 points as Miami beat Washington.

Mourning also had nine rebounds and five blocks as the Heat won for the eighth time in their last 10 games. Jamal Mashburn added 16 points and a career-high 10 assists and Voshon Lenard had 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.

Mitch Richmond had 20 points to lead Washington.

Spurs 106, Nuggets 87

In San Antonio, Malik Rose scored 21 points and had a career-high 14 rebounds as San Antonio Spurs defeated Denver.

The Spurs were without the services of David Robinson, who missed the game with cervical back spasms that he suffered in Friday night's 121-98 win against Boston.

Tim Duncan chipped in with 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Spurs. Ron Mercer led Denver with 26 points and Antonio McDyess added 20.

76ers 82, Bucks 79

In Milwaukee, Eric Snow scored a season-high 18 points and rookie teammate Todd MacCulloch added 16 to lead Philadelphia to victory over Milwaukee.

Ray Allen, who led Milwaukee with 23 points, missed a game-tying 3-pointer as time expired.

The Bucks had a 71-67 lead with 7:45 left in the game when Philadelphia made its comeback by going on a 7-0 run.